Welcome to Team Qingdao!

Saturday, May 17th was a big day for Clipper Race skippers, first mates, and us crew. Beyond the steps of iconic Guildhall in Portsmouth, England we all awaited our team assignments – the people we will spend countless hours with, on land, virtually, and at sea, for the next 14 months.

With over 400 crew in attendance, the place was buzzing with hype, new swag, smiles, and reconnecting teammates. Seeing teammates from Level 1, 2 and 3 training after a year apart was fantastic. Embraces and conversations of “How have you been? What have you been up to?” filled the room corner to corner. I am a bit regretful because my entire Level 1 training team was present and we failed to get a group picture of us on the steps of Guildhall. That would have been wonderful.

After a 90-minute session of various briefings, including one from Sir Robin himself, we got to the main act – Crew Allocation!

Gone are the days of reading each team member’s name and having them come up on stage when announced. Nowadays, us crew are given an LED bracelet (a la a Taylor Swift concert) and each Skipper/Mate team is assigned a color. If your bracelet lights up with that skipper’s color, then that is the team you are on. Simple, efficient, and fun with anticipation. Multiple times I wondered if my bracelet broke because it didn’t light up for a while!

Nearly 30 minutes had passed. 9 of 10 teams had been announced and my bracelet had not lit up yet. Neither had Hannah’s. Hannah is a fellow Level 2 trainee whom I have connected with off the water over the past year. We looked at each other with anticipation, and BAM! both of our bracelets lit up at the same time! We were both allocated to Team Qingdao, skippered by Philip Quinn (Northern Ireland) with First Mate Faith Nordbruch (England).

I later learned that a fellow Level 1 trainee and Level 3 trainee are both on Team Qingdao! It is comforting to have three familiar faces and personalities before heading into training with the rest of the lot.

Having trained with Phil and Faith in Level 3 training, I couldn’t be happier about this placement. Phil’s experience, coaching style, and leadership very much match what I am looking for in a Skipper and leader. Personally, I want to be competitive but not at the cost of safety, team trust/cohesion, and teammate relationships.

Inside Team Qingdao
Pronounced “ching-dow”, China’s sailing city of Qingdao has maintained a longstanding legacy with the Clipper Race since its debut year of working together in 2005. Qingdao is embarking on its tenth race edition and 20th year of partnership with Clipper as both a team entry and Host Port. Additionally, Qingdao has an ambassadorship program with Clipper and 10 of my teammates are ambassadors from Qingdao (or nearby)!

Philip Quinn – Skipper
(content is paraphrased from Phil’s Clipper biography)

Phil is a lifelong sailor who first fell in love with the sport as a boy racing Mirror dinghies, and has since competed across the UK, Europe, and as far as Thailand in dinghies, keelboats, and offshore events. His experience spans from foredeck to helm, including major races like the Round Ireland and Fastnet, both fully crewed and double-handed, as well as solo passages such as a Mediterranean-to-Northern Ireland delivery via Biscay.

Phil served in the Northern Ireland police force for 30 years before retiring in 2018 as Police Inspector and turning his passion for sailing into a profession, earning qualifications in cruising, powerboating, and instruction. He has trained crews at all four Clipper Race levels and participated in multiple offshore campaigns. Having previously skippered Qingdao in the second half of the 2023-2024 Clipper Race, Phil is now excited to lead from the very beginning — to build a team from the ground up and create something truly special together.

Faith Nordbruch – First Mate
(content is paraphrased from Faith’s Clipper biography)

Faith, originally from the Isle of Wight and now based in Gosport, began sailing at 16 through UKSA and entered the maritime industry at 17, teaching dinghy sailing, powerboating, and more. She has since earned her RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Cruising Instructor qualifications, working freelance around the Solent and volunteering as a First Mate with the Rona Sailing Project. Now stepping into a Clipper Race leadership role, she is focused on building a strong, communicative, and resilient team while growing her own sailing career alongside Race Skipper Phil.

The Crew
Our team consists of (so far):

• 52 total members (this may grow as more people sign up for the race)
  • approx. 65% male
  • approx. 35% female
• 7 circumnavigators
• 11 nationalities represented:
  • England
  • United States
  • China
  • Spain
  • Northern Ireland
  • Russia
  • Italy
  • Switzerland
  • Ireland
  • Sweden
  • Germany

I say “so far” because as the year carries on, others will sign up for individual legs of the race and get assigned to one of the ten teams. So, we may see our numbers change as the race gets closer and even into the race itself.

The next step is now Level 4 training which will be with Phil, Faith, and a subset of my fellow teammates on our boat. Let’s go, Team Qingdao!

Qingdao! ✊🏻 Qingdao! ✊🏻 Qingdao! ✊🏻